The new storytellers: Photographer Natalie Grono captures the everyday rituals

By Ella Rubeli

UpdatedOctober 9, 2015 — 4.25pmfirst published at 3.44pm

Photographer Natalie Grono has a knack for finding magical moments in everyday life. After a career as a news photographer, she now works freelance and pursues personal projects exploring childhood, motherhood and rituals. This interview is part of the series, The New Storytellers, which showcases the rich crop of young documentary photographers working from Australia.

'Sea Dreaming' explores the beaches and playgrounds of childhood.Credit:Natalie Grono

Pandemonium's Shadow. I have chosen this photograph because it represents where I am at present in my life at the moment. I am a mother and I am documenting the childhood of my two daughters. For me this image paints that picture of childhood, a world full of fantasy and the birth of fear. The image was captured one afternoon at home while my daughters were playing, I had been taking photos of their make believe when my youngest daughter's emotions began to erupt. This image was chosen recently as the winning image of the Olive Cotton Award for photographic portraiture.

I have always been interested in storytelling. I am curious about life and photography is the perfect gateway for me to become immersed in it. Photography takes you on journeys where you end up in places and situations you may have never dared to journey to. I love the adventure and the experiences and then being able to share the stories with others in a creative form. I have always been a social butterfly and a loner, documenting the world around me is a beautiful way to experience both behaviours simultaneously. I couldn't imagine not doing it.

What are the experiences that have brought you to where you are now as a photographer?

I discovered photography while studying print journalism. I always had the desire to write stories however after enrolling in university I became bored with the structure of print journalism and shifted my focus to photojournalism. I spent a fair bit of time wandering the world and soaking up many experiences before I decided to take a job as a photographer at a newspaper. Working at newspapers taught me so much about photographing lots of different situations, I am also grateful that in my final years of working for the Newcastle Herald there were editors who allowed the photographers to pursue their own stories and then gave them a good run. I have also had the opportunity to learn from mentors via workshops and there were so many photographic books that inspired me early on such as Immediate Family by Sally Mann and Gypsies by Josef Koudelka.

How did your upbringing contribute to the kinds of stories you're drawn to document?

'Children of the Tribe' studies children at play.Credit:Natalie Grono

My parents were keen travellers and loved meeting people. From a young age I always had a sense of adventure to go out and find something interesting.

What are the types of subjects and situations that you are drawn to document?

'Daughter' is one of the shots documenting the childhood of the photographer's daughters.Credit:Natalie Grono

I am interested in a variety of subjects and situations. After becoming a mother I wanted to explore and document my own childhood playgrounds (which were the beaches of the Central Coast of NSW) with a childhood vision. This led to the series 'Sea Dreaming'. Now I am exploring childhood through the eyes of a mother by documenting my daughters.

I am interested in photographing what events bring people together in alternative circumstances, whether that be to fight for land rights such as the body of work '400 villages' shot in Mexico City, or Camp Liberty about the Bentley Blockade, or a festival such as Burning Man.

'Feather and the Goddess Pool' shows the photographer's ability to connect with a range of subjects.Credit:Natalie Grono

How do you insert yourself into the lives of people and groups that you want to photograph?

That completely differs with each project. Except in the case of photographing my daughters I am usually there on the premise of making photos, so the camera is always with me. However sometimes I spend time talking and getting to know people before I find we both can open up to each other. I believe if you are there with the best intentions people can sense that. I also find that smiling is a powerful tool to being welcomed.

Has your camera led you into any difficult situations, physically, emotionally or ethically?

Yes, definitely when working at newspapers there are emotionally intense jobs you are sent to cover such as death knocks and accidents that I would find hard to cover or not want to cover. I often would struggle ethically with the motive of printing such events. My personal work is fairly positive so I don't really find myself in difficult situations. In documenting my daughters there are situations where you must be a parent first and there is also the decision of what imagery is shown in regards to protecting their privacy.

What are you working on next?

I have just begun a storytelling based project connecting the empowering and creative women that reside in and around Byron Bay. The project on my daughters is a work in progress for an indefinite time frame. Next year I will also start on a big journey photographing the events and rituals that draw people together, from the grand to the intimate. My hope for this project is to focus on the beauty of humanity.